First Lines of Anne Whitney
A sweet hope fluttering at my heartA thing that glideth aboutAh, working-day life,Alas! and yesternight I woke in terror,All's to gain,And for that thou art Beauty, and thy nameAs pleasant a man as you would see,Darkness surrounds me with its phantom hosts,Dim Eden of delight,Easily moved, easily swayedFrom all these mounds, though day blows fresh and warm,Go wear your tortured smile; speak and say nought;Gray strength of years!I dreamed an angel, Angel twice, through death,I dwelt content with God and loving all,I know this spirit bridges unknown spaceI pledge you in a cup not overbrimming.In the still hours, a stiller strength was bornLargess from seven-fold heavens, I pray, descendLook northward from this rock and see,Loud heart, that sleep'st when the world's awake,Might we make quest, through this soft circling sky,No slight caprice rules thee. -- Who sounds one noteO calmly, lovingly, Night, vast and deep,O fair mistrust of earth's more solid shows!O high-born souls, such as God sends to mouldO Mankind's God! most silent and most lowlyO night, a terrible dismay still lurksOf better fortune coming, then, talk not,Once, spirit, as a little child, I wentSeem I beyond thy reach of eyeSo reed-like fragile, in the world's whirl nought,Stoop low, dear Night, a little star-breeze wakesThe cross, the thorns, the cruel nails again!Thou seem'st to solve the eternal unityThou teachest better things unto my heart,Twas then we said, thrice happy in our earth,Within my life another life runs deep,Would but the sun shine,Yet are there sunbeams, though the kingly sunYou are welcome, world, to censure and carp:You should have seen it, sire; a vicious thing,